When You Trust a Raven
by OhMyGoshsickles
Summary: There's a story my father used to tell, about a witch who was disguised as a raven, and a little girl who got lost in the woods. When the girls blood was spilled, roses bloomed, because she forgave. If you were killed, I couldn't forgive.  OCs
1. Chapter 1

It all started on an unusually usual day. It was obscenely plain save for Blackstar and Death the Kid sparring in front of the school, and even that didn't surprise anyone anymore. The outcome was always the same, Death the Kid didn't even have to try.

Sense the fall of Ashura, life had returned to a vague sort of normal: Blackstar was still trying to surpass God- he seemed to be getting close to succeeding though, the power that he was wielding was getting ridiculous-, Death the Kid was still obsessing over symmetry,Soul and Maka were almost at the half way mark in there quest to make Soul a death scythe, and it even looked like Chrona was gaining a little courage in dealing with things.

It was these students that were observing the skirmish with Kid and Blackstar, and at this point, they were rather tired of it. It was not that the two did not get along, merely that Kid was one of the most powerful people Blackstar knew, and if he could someday defeat him, then he was one step closer to surpassing God. Autumn would soon arrive, and with it, the chill of fall. The feeling of anticipation for change made everyone antsy, and so maybe that's why Blackstar was attacking with such ferocity.

Maybe that's why no one noticed the approach of two strangers.

…Or maybe it was just because these two strangers weren't particularly threatening.

They were just girls after all, and it is society's tendency to under appreciate the female population, a fact that the taller of the two resented.

Her blond compatriot nudged her and gestured to the dramatic scene going on before them. "Uh, what's this?"

She shrugged. "Welcome wagon?" She stared at the raging battle a few seconds longer before adding. "If so, I'm giving them an A for effort, but a D for the presentation."

Her friend smiled, and then began to twist one of her low set pigtails apprehensively. "Should we do something?"

"Eh, sure, why not. OY KID!" She called; unaware that this was actually his name. Despite this fact, Death the Kid did not answer. "UM, DUDE! PERSON! GUY WITH STRIPE-Y HAIR!"

Still there was no reaction.

Sighing, she undid her ponytail, smoothed down her brown hair, and then retied it again. "Maybe this school is just weirder that we thought, Reba."

The shorter girl, Reba, nodded nervously, "It does look sort of scary." She eyed the giant skulls that adorned the school.

"Hmm. I don't know about scary, but something definitely seems off."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, look, the building is perfectly symmetrical!" She held her up her hand before her and drew an imaginary line. "It's exactly the same on both sides. I've never seen a building like before, have you?"

Reba put her hand up and covered one area of the school, then held up the other. "Whoa, your right! They're mirror images of each other!"

"See? That's just weird."

It was this that finally got Kids undivided attention. In fact, he stopped mid-attack to turn and gape at them. In consequence, a surprised Black Star skidded to a halt with Tsubaki's blade only inches from Kid's chest. Kid, unperturbed, batted the weapon away from him lightly and stomped toward the person who had so offended him.

"What's wrong with symmetry?" He glowered.

The taller girl blinked blue eyes at him. Her only reaction to the finger being brandished in her face was mild confusion. "Well there's nothing really _wrong_ with it," She said earnestly. "They say that within symmetry there is beauty."

Kid nodded resolutely, proving he agreed with that fact.

"However," She added mildly. "I think sometimes symmetry can be boring. Perfection is overrated."

This seemed to make something snap inside the young reaper. "You're overrated! What do _you_ know about the beauty of symmetry, huh? Something as perfect as symmetry could never be understood by you! Who are you anyways?"

"They're new students." A deep voice intoned from behind him. Dr. Stein had been refereeing the fight, and upon the newcomers arrival he had moved to greet them. "Rebecca Edwards," he pointed at the tall brunette- she waved. "And Reba Edwards." He gestured at the shorter blond. She smiled timidly and began to pull at her pigtail again.

Rebecca nodded and bowed. "You must be Professor Stein. Our Aunt Cordelia told us a lot about you, it's nice to meet you."

Stein adjusted his glasses. "Did she? Tell her that I wish her well."

"I will, thank you."

"You two are sisters?" Blackstar, noticing that the attention was no longer on him, had decided to join the conversation. "You don't look anything alike." He said, and then added. "Unlike me and my uncanny resemblance to God, I get mistaken for him all the time."

"We're cousins, actually, and you don't look anything like a god." Rebecca corrected. But it didn't matter because Blackstar wasn't hearing that part anyway. He was right at his first comment though, for the two didn't look like they could possibly be related at all. Rebecca was long, tan, and athletic looking. She was equippedwith a confident grin and blue eyes. Her brown hair was pulled up in a long ponytail, and she seemed to be very fond of fishnet tights, for nearly every article of clothing she wore incorporated them; from her stockings, to her shirt, which was merely a few strips of dark purple cloth held together by black mesh. Only adding to the oddity of her outfit was a sweeping blue jacket, rolled up at the sleeves, a gray wool skirt, and knee highboots.

Reba on the otherhand was narrow shouldered, demure, and looked a tad anxious to be the focus of such a large group of people. She was quite a bit shorter than Rebecca, and she was currently swamped in a lavender sweatshirt so large it covered most of her hands and draped off one shoulder. Barely visible underneath that, were brown shorts. She had straight blond hair that she had fashioned in short pigtails at the base of her neck, and bright green eyes.

Tsubaki, now in her human form, nudged him. "Don't be rude, Blackstar."

Blackstar shrugged. "Sorry," He stuck his hand out abruptly. "I'm Blackstar, but you can call me God, if you want."

"_That's the second time he's mentioned God in the first two minutes I've known him."_ Rebecca thought, frowning. _"Some first impression he's making."_

Dr. Stein quickly interjected. "You can all introduce yourselves later, I must point out the fact that both Rebecca and Reba are two hours late for school."

Rebecca laughed lightly and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry about that sir, we weren't exactly sure when school started, so we just sorta winged it."

"I'll excuse it seeming as it's your first day, but please try to be on time in the future. Anyway, I was instructed to take you to see Lord Death as soon as you arrived, however, because of your tardiness, I'm late for a class I have to teach. Maka, Soul," He turned to the pair. "Could you take them to Lord Death in my place? I'm sure it would be beneficial if you explained how this school works to them."

"Sure!" Maka chirped.

As Stein walked away Maka turned to her friends. "So, you guys want to help me give them a tour?"

Blackstar smirked. "It wouldn't be much of a tour if I wasn't there, I know everything about anything, so I'll join you."

"Um, I'd like to come too please." Chrona said earnestly.

Maka nodded. "Of course you can Chrona."

"You coming too, Kid?" Soul glanced over at him.

Kid shook his head as if to clear it. "Oh, uh, yeah."

"YAY!" Patty cheered, and punched her fist in the air. "And we're off!"

Watching her sister skip to the front of the group and violently link arms with Reba, Liz turned to look at her miester. "You okay, Kid?"

He proceeded to bite his lip and stare at his hands before muttering, "There's nothing wrong with symmetry."

Liz sighed. "Just let it go, Kid. Just let it go."


	2. Chapter 2

"So how do you two know Dr. Stein?"

The new students, Reba and Rebecca, had been introduced to the group, and now Maka was taking her chance to get to know them.

"Oh, well we don't really know him actually." Rebecca admitted.

"We were only told stories by our Aunt Cordelia." Reba explained. "They used to go to school together."

Maka looked excited. "Really? What was he like back when he was at school then?"

Reba paled. "Um…well… uh…"

Maka sweatdropped and patted her shoulder. "That's okay. He hasn't changed at bit, huh."

As Maka went on to inform Rebecca on how the DWMA's class system worked, Reba turned to ask Soul a question… and then thought better of it after seeing his razor sharp teeth and red eyes. Instead, she turned to Patty, who had been skipping happily beside her without a care in the world.

"Um, Patty?" She asked hesitantly, "When you say we're going to go see Lord Death… do you mean the Grim Reaper?"

Patty nodded cheerfully. "Yep! And that's his son!" She pointed at Death the Kid.

Reba stared at him in horror. He didn't look scary, but… she had a sudden vision of his face tearing off to reveal glowing red eyes, and fangs dripping in blood, and… oh God, oh God… she not so subtly crept away from him and grabbed the sleeve of Rebecca's coat. Kid looked at her quizzically- unaware of the reason she was staring at him and mouthing the words, 'Please don't eat me, I'm sorry, please don't eat me.'

"So why did you and Reba move here, Rebecca?" Tsubaki questioned curiously.

Rebecca suddenly stopped walking, a look of shame on her face. "Aunt Cordelia has gotten too sick to look after us. We wanted to stay and help her heal, but…"

"She said she didn't want us to see her like this." Reba finished, and then, seeing the look on her cousins face added, "But it's okay! Her miester, Saya, will take good care of her!"

Rebecca scowled, "Yeah, Saya will take care of her when she's not too busy flouncing around with her new husband. I swear that might be the only thing that woman does." She mumbled, her train of thought continuing in her head.

Sensing that she had stumbled upon a sensitive subject, Tsubaki laughed lightly and backtracked. "Ah ha, so are you living with your other family now?"

This seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect though, because even the ever-hopeful Reba's face fell a little.

"They were all killed a long time ago."

"AH HA! I KNEW IT!" Ragnarok, who had previously been stowed in Chrona's back, cried triumphantly.

Reba cried out in alarm and attempted to use her cousin as a human shield. Rebecca looked shocked. "What _is_ that?"

Chrona turned a bright shade of crimson as Ragnarok continued. "I KNEW I HAD HEARD YOUR NAME BEFORE! The Edwards family was the famous witch hunters that were killed by the Witch Counsel, right? I heard that there were three girls that had survived though, not two…"

"Ragnarok." Chrona moaned with eyes filled with tears of humiliation. "You shouldn't say things like that!"

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU BRAT?" He turned down and started to grind his knuckles into the sides of Chrona's head.

"Owww, stop it." Chrona whined.

All of this seemed to go over Rebecca's head however, because her only response was, "… Is that thing attached to you, Chrona?"

Chrona nodded miserably.

"Is it… your weapon?"

"OY, STOP CALLING ME AN IT."

One more nod.

She shook her head in disbelief as Reba slowly emerged from her cower behind her and peeked over her shoulder. "That's really…" Chrona winced. "Neat."

Chrona's eyes widened and the rest of the group relaxed in relief of the fact that neither of the newcomers had ridiculed Chrona for any oddities. "R-really?"

Rebecca nodded plaintively. "Does it hurt? How did that happen?"

"Well, not anymore… and, it's sort of a long story." Chrona looked away.

"Eh, it's okay." She flapped her hand nonchalantly. "You don't have to tell me now. Oh, and for the record," She pointed at Ragnarok. "You're right, our family was killed by the witches a long time ago. And there _are_ three survivors. Reba has a little sister- my younger cousin- who also survived. Her name is Madge."

Soul frowned. "But you said-"

"Oh! Cordelia isn't really our aunt!" Reba clarified. "She's just a family friend! She's taken care of us ever since then."

"Oh. I see."

"And on that note," Rebecca pointed at the door in front them. "Is this the Death Room? Should we go in?"

Maka nodded. "This is it."

Reba laughed nervously, her mind was once again filled with the thought of dripping blood and missing faces, except this time multiplied by two. "Uhhh. I actually have something I have to do… over there!" She said, and made attempted to make a mad dash in the opposite direction.

Rebecca seemed to have been prepared for this however, for she grabbed the blond by the hood of her sweatshirt and held her up in front of her with a malicious grin on her face. "I knew your true nature would be shown sooner or later, scaredy-cat."

"Let go of me! It's too scary! I don't want too meet the Grim Reaper!" She whined. "And don't even talk to me about true nature! Your face looks really demonic right now!"

"Come oooon. He just wants to talk to us, you don't have to act like he's gonna eat you. " Rebecca said teasingly.

"That's what you think! When was the last time you had a friendly heart to heart with Death?"

"Why, it was only last week, he thought our curtains were lovely. Now move it." Rebecca kicked the doors open and the rest of the student's, rather stunned at the sudden outburst, followed her in.

"Nooooooooooooo!" Reba cried as Rebecca dragged her by the hood into the Death Room.

"Yooooo! Wazzup? How are you? Good to see you all again!" Death boomed in his wacky voice.

Rebecca looked surprised and she nonchalantly pulled Reba into a standing position. "Have we met before, sir?"

"Ohhohoho! Only once when you were _very_ small." He rested one of his giant hands on Reba's head. All of the color promptly drained from her face and she slumped against Patty, mumbling unintelligibly.

Patty giggled. "Oh look! She's down! She's down! Mayday! Mayday!"

"Erm, have I done something wrong?" Death asked quizzically.

"Just ignore her. She'll be fine in a minute."

"Okay, then." He made a sweeping motion with his hands. "Thank you all for escorting these two to me. Due to the condition of their current caretaker, they have been entrusted to me. As you probably know, they will be joining this school starting tomorrow. Even though they have prior training, I believe it will be beneficial for them to start out with the level one student's. Alright?"

"Uh… uh…."

"Something to say Rebecca?"

She stared at the floor. "Uh well, what you just said is all good and well but…" She looked up at him. "Why did you call us here?"

Death considered this.

"Huh. I guess I forgot."

…

…

…

"NO WAY!"

†††††

Standing back out in front of the school, Rebecca kicked up dust. "That. Was so. POINTLESS. ARGH!"

Maka laughed lightly and held up a hand. "Well at least we got to meet each other right? So that's not… pointless…right?"

But it was useless; Lord Death had inexplicably wasted their time.

A pale hand grabbed Rebecca's shoulder in a death grip. She glanced over her shoulder to see Reba, finally conscious again, wide eyed and shaking. "I was touched… by Death."

"Is that anything like being touched by kindness?" Her cousin deadpanned.

"DON'T MAKE PUNS AT ME! THAT WAS THE MOST TERRIFYING MOMENT OF MY LIFE!"

"You're terrified by everything. I highly doubt that was the most terrifying moment of your life."

"IT WAS."

"Oy." A calm voice interrupted their conversation. They looked over to see Blackstar regarding them with a smirk. "If you two are as powerful as Lord Death says, we should spar sometime. Everyone's curious about who the weapon is and who the meister is, and I don't like it when people upstage me. Not that anyone ever could, just to be clear on that, but by sparring I can show you the mighty powers that I possess!"

Rebecca grinned. "Maybe tomorrow. We still need to unpack. Maybe once we do you can all come visit our apartment. I'm sure Madge would enjoy the company." She turned on her heel and tapped Reba on the back as a sign to follow her. "Ciao."

And so, the snoring sun set on the first day of school for the new students.

Perhaps life wouldn't be so vague after all.

* * *

**Gaah. yes. This is. Still. Boring. **

**Also your probably wondering how the summary relates to the story.**

**Well it does.**

**You'll see.**

**Am I being annoying?**

**Undoubtedly.**

**That's what they call me. **

**Anyway.**

**My return bar is getting cross at me. So I'll stop. Ahhh. Yes. I'm still looking for a beta! In case your wondering. (Which you weren't.)**

**Why am I always so dispirited when I write these author notes? Hrmmm. Probably because it's at the end of the day. **

**AH OKAY. I WILL TALK IN CAPS TO RAISE MY SPIRITS.**

**YOUR MOM WOULD REVIEW, SO YOU SHOULD TOO.**

**YES.**

**REVIEW DAMN IT.**

**-Sasha**


	3. Chapter 3

The following day, the remaining bloodline to the Edwards family awoke as they always did.

7:00 Rebecca's alarm goes off.

7:05 Rebecca got out of bed and gets dressed.

Rebecca was defiantly a morning person. As she climbed out of the bed her and Reba shared she stretched and began to hum a jaunty tune.

7:09 Rebecca helped Madge get ready for school

7:10 Reba's alarm went off. She turned it off and went back to sleep.

7:12 Rebecca attempted to kick Reba out of bed and when she got no response she went to eat breakfast with Madge.

7:20 Rebecca finished breakfast, tried to wake Reba up again and then went to brush her teeth and fix her hair.

7:27 Rebecca shook Reba violently, and then, sighing, walked Madge to school.

Madge's school was technically a daycare, but it worked primarily as a training school for meisters and weapons too young to attend the DWMA. It was run by the young swordsman Mifune, and even thought Rebecca thought he looked a bit severe, he seemed to have a general love for little kids- a fact she found only semi-creepy.

7:35 Reba wakes up and begins to panic.

If Rebecca was a morning person then Reba was defiantly not one. She jumped out of bed and began to run around into doors and walls- like a chicken with its head cut off.

7:40 Rebecca starts walking back from Madge's school. Reba scarfs down some breakfast.

7:45 Reba throws some clothes on, and frantically brushes her teeth and fixes her hair.

7:48 Reba goes to stand in front of their apartment building shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously.

7:49 Rebecca meets with Reba and they hurry to school.

7:59 Reba and Rebecca sprint to class.

8:00 School starts.

And for the rest of the day Reba tries not to fall asleep.

Today however, in the middle of class, the pair received an interesting proposition. And it came in the form of a paper ball bouncing off the back of Reba's head. She blinked sleepily and then slowly uncrumpled the paper. She read it, stared uncomprehendingly, slid it over to Rebecca, and then went back to half listening to Dr. Stein, half focusing on the giant screw in his head. She wondered what would happen if she tried to pull it out.

Rebecca glanced over at the paper and flattened it out.

It read in scratchy capital letters:

DEAR REBA AND REBECCA. WE SHOULD BATTLE. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW.

-BLACKSTAR

Rebecca turned around to see Blackstar posing with one leg on the table, staring at her with determination. He then lifted up a piece of paper that read, "God wills it."

Dr. Stein dutifully ignored him.

She looked back at the note on her desk and noticed how his signature was much larger than the actual message. In fact, it was more just his name in giant letters with some words squeezed in around it. "What a narcissistic guy." She thought exasperatedly.

She quickly scribbled back a much less self-imposing message.

It went a bit like this:

Sorry! Reba's half asleep! Maybe later?

-Rebecca

She looked back up at him- he was still standing in the same position, even though now Tsubaki was tugging at his jacket in an attempt to make him sit down.

Rebecca tapped the desk of the boy who sat behind her to get his attention, and then handed the note to him. "Will you hand this too Blackstar?" The boy nodded and so she turned back around.

A few minutes of note taking went by before the peace was interrupted again.

"WHAT?"

Rebecca winced. Blackstar must have gotten her note.

Dr. Stein swiveled around in his chair. "Something to say to the class Blackstar?" He asked dryly.

The spiky haired boy nodded seriously. "Rebecca just rejected my invitation to do battle! I mean, I understand her fear of going against someone as awesome as me, but she should still do it!" He exclaimed, brandishing the paper.

Rebecca flushed and sunk into her seat. Reba stared at the wall blankly, unaware that she was being made an example out of.

Professor Stein turned back around and went back to writing on the chalkboard once more. "Good for her. She obviously has better things to do. Like writing down notes for class. Like you should be."

Blackstar fell back into his seat fuming. "But it just doesn't make sense!" He grumbled.

†††

It was still no better at lunch.

"Hey, you still sleepy?"

Reba yawned. "Yeah, but now I'm hungry too."

"I can tell, because your face is all like this. " She made her face go emotionless. "Duuuuuuuuur." She intoned.

"Huh? What? I don't do that!"

"Haha, well I'm hungry too, so lets go get some-"

"HEY!"

"Oh, great."

Blackstar sprinted towards them- Tsubaki following unwillingly. He sputtered to a stop. '"Hey! Will you fight my awesome self now?"

Rebecca looked longingly at the cafeteria. "But I'm hungry…"

He crossed his arms. "A true warrior doesn't put his battles on hold for food."

"A true warrior knows that Lunch is the most important meal of the day." Rebecca snapped back.

Reba looked confused. "But… I thought that breakfast was the most important meal of the day."

Rebecca elbowed her.

"Ow! What was-? …Oh sorry."

Blackstar looked triumphant.

Tsubaki smiled at the pair. "We actually just came here to invite you both to lunch with everyone. We all brought some, so there should be enough for everybody."

Reba looked starry eyed and tugged on Rebecca's sleeve, mumbling, "Hey, we should go."

Rebecca sweatdropped. "Oh now your all gung-ho about it." She grinned. "Well heck, I'll never turn down an invitation to eat something. We'll go." She turned to Blackstar. "But that doesn't mean I'm fighting you."

The assassin scowled.

††††

"Hey guys!" Maka called. The group was sitting on a large wool blanket nestled in between two trees. The vastness of the DWMA's school grounds never failed to impress Rebecca. "Glad you could get here before Ragnarok ate all the food."

Chrona gave a large sigh and ducked his head. "I'm sorry. He just won't listen to me."

Ragnarok snorted and gestured at Maka rudely. "You stupid brats, what's the point in waiting for people who might not even show up?" He got bored and started jamming his fingers up Chrona's nose.

Rebecca gave the group an apologetic look as she lowered herself to the ground. "Were you all waiting for us? I'm sorry."

Soul grinned. "Well we weren't sure if you'd actually show up after the scene _this_ moron made in class." He punched Blackstar in the arm playfully. "Thought he might have scared you off."

"I don't scare that easily. Unlike some people." She looked at Reba pointedly.

Reba froze, another forkful of food stopping mid-air on way to her already full mouth. "Wot?" She said stuffily.

As everyone began to laugh she quickly swallowed. "I'm not scared!" Soul bared his sharp teeth at her. "…For the most part at least." She added, suppressing a shudder.

Rebecca chuckled again and glanced up to see Blackstar staring at her unblinkingly. She pointedly looked away. "You have to stop doing that. Your face will end up freezing that way."

She snuck a peek at him. There was no change.

She looked away.

She looked back.

He hadn't looked away, but he had proceeded to begin shoveling down food.

Rebecca shook her head. She had a feeling she would never understand the boy. "What are you doing _now_?"

"I'm challenging you." He did not stop his breakneck eating pace.

"You're challenging me to an eating competition?"

"Yes."

"What does that prove? The only prize you'll win from that is a stomach ache."

"I'm proving that I'm the bigger star here. That I am mightier in everything I attempt"

"If you say so…"

"I mean look," Blackstar stopped eating to point at Reba dramatically. "You're even trying to steal my family seal!"

Reba looked down at the bright yellow star on her sweatshirt. "Uh, actually…" She began, but Rebecca cut her off with irritation.

"What? Family seal? The only reason Reba has that on her shirt is because it's on the Edwards family crest! Look!" She grabbed Reba's choker necklace and pulled her forward.

"Ow! Hey!" Reba complained, but her cousin ignored her.

"See?" She showed him the pendant dangling from Reba's neck. It was a dark gray stone- the insignia a river of inlaid turquoise. The picture was of a star with roses intertwined around it. Beneath that were two coal black feathers- most likely set from onyx. Blackstar stared at it until Rebecca let go of Reba's neck and she pulled back. "Get it now?" Rebecca scowled.

Blackstar shrugged uncaringly. "Why were the feathers a different color from the rest of it?"

"Let's just say my family isn't a big fan of ravens." She said flatly. "It's sort of a long story but I don't really think you deserve to hear it right now. You know what?" She said,coming to a standing position. "You've been a real pain all day, so I think I'll take you up on that offer you made earlier."

Blackstar's eyes glittered with excitement and he jumped to his feet. "You'll fight me?"

"Yeah, pest, I will."

"Yahoo! I'll make you regret those words!"

Rebecca smirked. "I'm sure." She turned on her heel, her jacket fluttering out after her. "After school, I'm looking forward to it."

Reba grabbed her backpack and quickly stood. "Bye guys! Thank you for lunch!" She then chased after Rebecca, calling, "Hey! Wait up!"

After a pause, Soul grinned. "You really did it this time, idiot."

* * *

**And yes! The title is sort of hinted at. **

**...Vaugly.**

**Thank you my one reviewer! I love you dearly! *Breaks into hysterical tears* **

**...Still looking for a beta... and... yes.**

**I think that is all, I love thy who review.**

**Darn right I'm classy, I just said 'thy'.**

**I'd love it if you reviewed.**

**-Sasha**


	4. Chapter 4

Rebecca reached down to touch her toes. It was one of the little things Cordelia had taught her- warmer muscles meant limber movements and that meant being able to dodge unexpected blows from the opponent.

Just beyond her Reba stood patiently, rocking idly back and forth on her heels. "You're ready?" She asked curiously.

The school bell had just rung, and so Reba and Rebecca were waiting for Blackstar to arrive with a teacher to be the judge of their battle.

Rebecca shrugged nonchalantly in answer of her question. She bent down to touch her toes again. "Eh, I'm not planning on having to work too hard on this one. We can beat this child without too much effort."

"Don't underestimate him, he looks really strong. Have you seen his arms? They're really big!"

Rebecca laughed. "I know right? He's like a freaking miniature body builder."

Reba giggled. "Do you think he would be like one of those guys who lift giant weights on the beach?"

"Or like the guys who sit under waterfalls?"

"Or like-"

"Talking about how big a star I am?"

Blackstar had arrived, the zombie professor Sid and Tsubaki in tow. Behind him trailed Maka and Soul, who had apparently come to be spectators. Rebecca chuckled. "Yes that is exactly what we're doing."

"Are you ready? I understand how intimidating I can be, so if you need some time preparing yourself I'll let you have it."

"Um, no, I think I'm good."

"Are you sure? Because Reba looks pretty scared to me."

Rebecca glanced at the blond cowering behind her. "Oh, she's… sort of scared of Sid."

Sid, who was standing behind Blackstar, frowned. "Back when I was alive I wouldn't have been offended by that, that's the kind of man I was."

"But you're offended now?" Maka said, filling in the blanks.

"… A little bit."

"Don't take it personally," Rebecca offered. "She's just had something against zombies since she watched this stupid anime where there was this world wide pandemic that turned everyone into zombies and all of these high school kids were trying to save their sorry butts."

"But there's only one of me."

"Actually I think that it's more just the fact that you're a zombie…."

"I see."

"…yes."

Blackstar quickly ruptured any awkward silence as he spoke loudly. "Can we please stop talking about how weird Sid is and start focusing on how the great me is going to beat you into the ground?"

At this Rebecca snorted and pulled at Reba's hand so she would stand next to her. "Don't worry about Sid, Reba, just focus on this joker."

Reba shook her head as if to clear it and then nodded with an air of determination. "'Kay."

Blackstar cackled in glee. "Get ready to be defeated by a God! Tsubaki!"

"Right!" She glowed and promptly transformed into a chain-scythe. "Don't underestimate them Blackstar. Remember what Lord Death said, they're very strong." Tsubaki warned half-heartedly- already too aware of the fact that her meister would completely disregard her advice.

"Yeah, whatever. Count us off Sid!"

Sid walked to the front steps and called, "Reba and Rebecca, are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Yep!"

"Meister Blackstar and Tsubaki, are you ready?"

"Yahoo! Let's go!"

"Yes."

"Alright then," Sid nodded, and with a slicing of his giant hand through the air and bellowed, "Fight!"

Blackstar reacted immediately, lunging past the pair and slinging Tsubaki out in such a manner as too wrap the chain around Rebecca's wrist and pull her to the ground.

To avoid this, Reba and Rebecca sprung apart, and Blackstar spun on a dime and lunged toward them again.

"Oh!" Reba stumbled back a few steps as Backstar sliced at her, and when she fell backwards and landed on her butt Rebecca slid in and kicked his legs out from under him.

"This kid's fast!" She exclaimed, sounding impressed, as she quickly helped Reba back to her feet.

Sitting with Soul on the school steps, Maka frowned. "Why won't one of them transform?"

Soul shrugged. "Building up anticipation I guess?"

Blackstar seemed to be wondering the same thing. "Too afraid to fight me after all?"

Rebecca smiled brightly. "I like to play with my prey a little before I kill it, don't you?"

There was a communal pause, and a few seconds later Maka finally laughed awkwardly and said, "Look's like Rebecca has a bit of a sadistic side."

Not fazed in the least, Blackstar seemed to take this last statement as an open challenge, for he cried, "Yeah? Kill this! Speedstar!" And before she had time to move out of the way he was brandishing Tsubaki in Rebecca's face and then her had pushed her to the ground.

Rebecca, though surprised at the sudden attack, recovered well and rolled over before he could pin her. She flipped and bounced off her palm and then back onto her feet. "Getting serious? I can respect that. Reba!'

"Oh- 'Kay!"

Reba, who had been previously standing behind Blackstar, weaved by him and grabbed onto Rebecca's hand. The blue haired boy jumped backwards several feet, not sure what to expect.

In one second Reba was merely a flash in the air and in the next Rebecca was holding an extremely oversized mallet.

The mallet itself was made from pale wood, but the center of it's base and much on the handle was wrapped in red ribbon, and either end was covered in beige canvas with a large star emblem imprinted on it- the Edwards family seal making itself known again.

Maka nearly fell over in surprise, "A- a hammer? But, when I think hammer I think, straight-forward and to the point! And when I think about Reba I think small and demure and… wha?"

Soul grinned widely and crossed his arms. "Eh, I knew it."

Maka looked quite peeved by this statement- actually, it looked sort of like her eyes had caught fire by the way she stared at him. "You did not! There's no way!"

Soul took one look at his angry meister and quickly backtracked. "Cool it, Maka! I'm just saying that I could tell that Reba was the weapon. Could you imagine _Rebecca_ being wielded by_ her_?"

Maka, now slightly calmed, frowned and leaned back. "I guess. But it seemed like someone like Reba wouldn't want to hurt anyone."

Soul shrugged. "Just take it from a weapon himself, I could tell."

"Hmph, sure, whatever Soul."

Rebecca hefted the mallet over her shoulder. "You're feeling a little heavier than usual, maybe you should've ate less at lunch today, fatty."

"What?" Reba cried indignantly, her voice reverberating from deep within the wood. "You ate just as much as me and you know it!"

"Hmmmm? What was that? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about chubby-cheeks."

Before Reba could retaliate she was interrupted by Blackstar's scoffing. "Hah! You think you can take down the great Blackstar with that giant block of wood?"

"Hey! Why is everyone being mean to me today…?"

Rebecca smirked. "Careful what you say, one good smash from Reba and you could find your nose lodged somewhere in the vicinities of your brain, fun right?"

"Hah! As if you could even catch a God, I'm way out of your league!"

She considered this and then gave a feral grin. "Well. I've always enjoyed a good challenge."

And then she sprung at him.

Maka gasped audibly and Soul glanced over at her. "What?"

Maka shook her head. "They're so in synch! Even when they're not resonating, their souls are so close that I can actually sort of hear a thrumming sound. Do you hear anything?"

Soul shook his head and so Maka looked back at them thoughtfully. "Their souls… it sounds sort of warm and melodic… it's so strong I can't believe I didn't hear it earlier."

Sid nodded. "Even though I cannot see souls even I can hear it. A great source of their power comes from the fact that they are extremely dependent on each other, though that's understandable."

"What do you mean?"

"First of all, those two grew up constantly reminded of the fact that they and Reba's sister were all they had left, so they are very close, but you could tell that already, couldn't you Maka?"

"Yeah."

"Second of all, they were raised and trained by a death scythe."

"Huh? You mean Cordelia was-?"

"Yes. Actually, Stein and I attended school with her, and she was at the top of our class. She and Stein were considered rivals by most, even though near the end of our schooling she began to pursue him romantically. She was incredibly intelligent, but had to decline the position of serving Lord Death as a death scythe because of her frail health. Sadly, her meister was killed in a car accident a few days before our graduation and no one has heard tale of her since then."

Maka frowned, "But Reba said that her meister Saya was taking care of her."

"Did she really?" Sid mulled over this as he watched Blackstar jump over Rebecca and slice at her from behind. She nimbly jumped out of the way and rammed the end of Reba's handle into his abdomen to knock the air out of him. "Perhaps that's something new."

Back in the midst of things Blackstar picked himself off the ground and paused to regain his breath. "Blackstar," Tsubaki instructed. "You need to get closer in. Reba's range is longer than mine, and right now they're just toying with us." Blackstar nodded as Tsubaki continued, "We would do better in enchanted sword mode, at least then we would be able to parry their attacks."

"Right, thanks Tsubaki. Enchanted sword mode!"

Rebecca looked impressed as Tsubaki changed forms. "So you're an assassin then! How cool!"

The assassin in question posed enthusiastically. "Damn right I'm cool! Who do you think you're talking too?"

"You're right! I should step it up a notch!" Rebecca swung Reba over her head and at him easily and he dodged by jumping over and landing on the other side. Rebecca used her momentum to complete the turn and hit him from that side instead.

He stumbled forward as the mallet collided with him but as Rebecca let down her guard to laugh he turned and thrust his sword in a direct path into her side.

"Yikes!" Rebecca cried, and jumped high into the air, flipping at the peak, and then using the momentum to slam Reba into her opponent. However, just as she was about to make contact with Blackstar's head he cried, "Smokestar!"

"Oof!" Rebecca landed heavily on the ground where Blackstar had been a few seconds prior, leaning forward to balance out her weight. With a sigh she straightened and slung Reba back over her shoulder. She squinted into the haze. "A smoke bomb? That's pretty neat."

"Uh huh," Reba commented. "I wish I could do that."

Rebecca snorted. "Yeah, how 'bout you get right on that?"

"I was just saying! So where is he?"

"Shh, listen."

There was a brief silence and then a whisper, "Can't catch me."

And then, "Speedstar!"

And then Blackstar was moving so fast he appeared to be in three different places at once, laughing maniacally.

Reba scowled and watched as Blackstar ran circles around her. "Reba." She muttered.

"Oh? Now?"

"Yeah, he's being annoying."

"Oo-kay, tell me when."

"You see this?" Blackstar cackled. "This is the speed of a God, hahahahaha!"

Rebecca clenched her fists and adjusted her hold on Reba.

"Can't catch me!" He taunted.

"And that's where you're wrong! Now!" Rebecca cried, and then she wasn't where she had been a second before, and then suddenly Blackstar found himself lying on the ground bleeding profusely from the head.

"Blackstar!" Tsubaki cried and rushed to his aid as his eyes rolled around in his head semi-humorously.

"Humph." Rebecca grumbled, and she stuck the mallet's tip into the ground. The heavier end leaned too and fro amiably for a second before there was a brief flash and Reba assumed a more humanoid form.

"Feel better now?" Reba grinned.

"Yes, loads, thanks."

"You know, you probably shouldn't have hit him so hard…"

"Well he was trying my patience." Rebecca said snippily. "And I've always made an effort to smash small pests that irritate me."

Blackstar gripped his head and groaned. He glowered at Rebecca as she and Reba knelt down beside him. "A God can never be a pest."

"Sure, whatever you say. How's your head?"

"Fine!" He snapped, and sprung to his feet- he then turned a startling shade of white and was forced to sit back down.

"Yeah… maybe you were right." Rebecca said, making a wry face at her cousin. "I shouldn't have hit him so hard."

Sid and the other spectators came to join them, with Sid announcing that they were the definitive victors.

"Awesome." Rebecca straightened, high-fiving her partner.

Maka stared at her curiously. "What was that thing you did earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your last attack, it wasn't a matter of speed- it was just that one moment you were there and then the next you were across the courtyard."

Rebecca's face was the picture of innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"But I saw-"

"You must have not been looking very closely Maka. Maybe the smoke was still clouding your vision?"

Maka still seemed hesitant and so Soul nudged her in the shoulder and grinned toothily. "Just let it go."

"Okay…"

Soul turned his smirk at Blackstar, "Got your ass kicked, didn't 'cha, moron?"

"Shut up!" Blackstar sprung up again- this time more successfully- and brandished his finger furiously in Rebecca's face. "You think you're on top now! Well I'll show you who the big star _really_ is! One day I'll be bigger than God. Hahahaha!"

Rebecca paused.

She stared.

And then she finally groaned and dropped her head in her hands. "Okay! Fine! I give up! You surpass me all mighty one! Happy now?"

Blackstar's self-confident smile was bigger than the sun. "No thanks! I'm gonna beat you fair and square some day, so you better get ready for it." He thrust his hand out. "Alright?"

Rebecca looked like someone had just told her that she would have to deal with a blue-haired brat pestering her for the rest of her life. Which is exactly what someone had just told her.

"Alright." She said wearily, and shook his hand.

"Yahoo!" Blackstar cheered; he then promptly collapsed into a human blob in the middle of the courtyard, mumbling something about a good night's sleep. Tsubaki ran towards him with a worried look on her face while Soul and Maka just ignored him.

The brown-haired mister turned slowly to Reba, and then said miserably, "Can we move back home now?'

The only thing Reba could do was laugh.

* * *

**Sheesh this one was long! Next chapter is about the same length though... Laugh. How do I know that? Because I have a system; I post the chapter as soon as I have the next one typed up. I don't know why I have this system... but I do.**

**Something I noticed: The Soul Eater fanbase isn't very OC friendly. I.e. Stories with OC's aren't as popular and don't have as many reviews. (Granted, some of them aren't all that fantastic, so this is understandable.) Hmm, but yes. Just some insight.**

**So just a question, is the summary for this story, too misleading? If you could give me your opinion I would greatly appreciate it. **

**But, I AM SO PUMPED FOR THE CHAPTER AFTER NEXT. AHH! I'M GONNA TRY TO HAVE IT FINISHED BY TMMRW! (...this will never happen.)**

**Reviews make chapter's come faster! (THIS IS A LIE, BUT REVIEWS ARE SO GREATLY APPRECIATED THAT I OFTEN KEEP THEM IN MY INBOX TO GIVE ME COURAGE. SADLY _THIS_ IS NOT A LIE.) **

**Ah, I am bursting with love right now. I love you guys.**

**LOVE, Sasha**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter seems to start out like filler, but it's not! No worries.**  


* * *

It was getting colder in Death City; a sure sign that fall had arrived.

Reba and Rebecca had gotten accustom to the DWMA's strange way of running, and they seemed well liked among there peers. (Though Rebecca had trouble taking anything Ox said seriously due to his appearance.) Also, they had finally gotten all of there stuff unpacked and all of there furniture moved in, so they had invited Soul, Maka, and the rest of there friends too a house warming party.

In fact, Death the Kid and his trusty weapons were heading to the party at that exact moment.

Liz hugged her jacket closer to her and frowned. "Uh, Kid? Don't you think we're going a little bit early? The party doesn't start till eight thirty."

"I can't go at eight thirty," Kid said tersely. "If I'm going to arrive at any time it will have to be eight. Eight thirty is not symmetrical at all. Besides," He sniffed. "Eight thirty is a bit late for a party isn't it? I'm sure it will be fine."

Liz crossed her arms over her voluminous chest. "Whatever you say. But if they kick us out, I'm blaming you."

Patty grinned and grabbed her sister's hand, dragging her on ahead. "Lighten up sis! We're going to a party!"

Kid inspected the paper that he had been given earlier. It contained instructions on how to get to Reba and Rebecca's apartment building, along with the time to arrive and a crudely drawn sketch of what the building looked like juts in case. "Actually, we're right here." He looked up; like many of the buildings in Death City, the color scheme was slightly nonsensical- or rather, it looked like whoever had chosen the paint had just pointed at random. And so, the building was painted a cheerful yellow color with a trim.

There were only three stories, but each apartment had a balcony and a large picture window. "Looks nice enough." Kid commented, and then pointed to the second floor. "They said they're in apartment six. Should we go up?"

"Yeah!" Patty cheered, and dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

As she reached to knock on the door there was a muffled yell from inside. As Kid and Liz came up behind her she looked at them curiously. "Do you think the party started without us?"

"I don't think that's it." Kid said darkly.

Liz's head snapped up, "Do you think there's something wrong?"

He shook his head. "There's no way of knowing, but it would be prudent for us to check." He put his hand on the doorknob. "On three."

"One.

Two.

Three."

He thrust the door open.

…And he was not expecting was he saw.

Inside the apartment was Rebecca pinning Reba to the ground with her legs- the latter being shirtless, her purple bra being shown to the unexpected guests. Rebecca was brandishing a dress in her cousin's face.

"Ugh! Just put this on!"

Reba squirmed. "Why is it such a big deal?"

"You'd look cute!"

The trio at the door stood silently until someone gave a small cough.

Reba and Rebecca froze and turned toward them- frighteningly in synch.

The door slowly swung close.

"Ah! I'm not wearing a shirt! I've been exposed and it's entirely your fault! My innocence has been tainted!"

"This all could have been remedied if you just put the dress on to begin with!"

"I don't want to! It feels like I'm not wearing pants and that's scary!"

"Then just put some pants underneath!"

"No! That's weird too!"

"Agh!"

There was a thump and them silence.

"They're still outside huh."

"Yeah…"

"You should… probably put a shirt on."

"Right…"

There was a brief scuffling sound and then Rebecca opened the door. "Hiiiii…" She said, forcing a suave attitude. Reba was nowhere to be seen.

Death the Kid looked away. "Um, hello…"

"We weren't," She paused and rubbed her arm self-consciously. "Expecting you so early."

Liz sighed- breaking the tangible awkwardness. "Sorry we're intruding. Kid here has problems."

Rebecca shook her head. "No, It's fine. Would you like to come in?" She unglued herself from the door and led them inside.

For an apartment it was rather spacious. The living room was painted a natural beige, but the furniture was rag-tag and had no sense of design. The couch was a deep maroon, and while one of the soft reclining chairs was forest green, the other was of a completely different make and covered in black leather. These were centered around a small TV. In front of which was a coffee table and a plush purple rug.

"Welcome to our humble abode." Rebecca said grandly, and made a sweeping motion with her hands. "Sorry it's not totally clean yet. We're not really finished getting ready."

Liz shook her head, and Patty threw herself onto the couch and began to giggle as she rolled around. "It's fine, we're the ones who came early after all."

Kid cast his meticulous gaze over the room and then nodded. "It's actually very tidy."

Rebecca beamed. "Thank you! Reba's actually a bit of a slob, so I spend most of my time cleaning it."

There was an offended yell from the other room, and Reba strode out from a hallway that looked like it led to there rooms. She was now sporting a dark blue sweater with lace on the collar, and Liz had a feeling that the dress was hidden somewhere where Rebecca would never find it. "I'm not a slob!" She cried, grabbing her cousin's sleeve and tugging violently. "Why are you always so mean too me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, suck it up."

Patty flipped onto her back and flopped her head onto the arm of the couch. As she observed the world from an upside down perspective she questioned, "I thought you had a little sis, Reba?"

"Oh!" Rebecca exclaimed suddenly and looked around as if she had misplaced something. "Where is Madge anyway?"

Reba looked thoughtful. "I think she's in her room."

"Not anymore." Said a small voice from the hallway.

This easily got everyone's attention.

There in the hallway was a small girl- looking about 8 or 9- with strawberry blond curls framing her face and her blue eyes glittering with intelligence. She wore a plain black dress with a white peter-pan color, and she looked a tad cross. "You guys are too loud. I was reading."

Rebecca was immediately at her side. "Sorry Madge, do you want to meet my friends?"

Madge surveyed them wearily. "Are they mean?"

"Oh yes," Rebecca grinned. "They're horrible."

Madge nodded. "Okay then."

Reba smiled and with the air of a conspirator muttered to Kid, "Rebecca sort of dotes on her."

Kid chuckled and then noticed with a start that Madge was standing in front of him with a look of serious calculation that seemed strange on someone so young. Rebecca patted her head. "This is Death the Kid, Lord Death's son. And this is Patty and Liz, his weapon partners." She explained.

Madge absorbed this information, and after a long, considering, look said, "I like the stripes in your hair. It's weird that they don't go all the way through though." Kid froze, and Patty giggled as Madge continued on unblinkingly. "It's important that things are balanced. When things are in disorder then one thing follows the other, and the entire balance of the world can fall apart. Even if it's a small thing, you're just adding to that disorder by not completing the stripes in your hair. As a reaper it's your job to keep the world in balance, and so it's a little irresponsible to be contributing to it yourself don't you think?"

By the time she had finished, Death the Kid was merely a sniffling puddle on the ground. "She's right!" He sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "I'm disgusting! Disgusting!"

Rebecca beamed. "I knew you two would get along."

††††

Everyone had finally arrived at the party except Chrona, and Maka had announced that it would be simply rude to start without their pink haired compatriot. Blackstar, ever the hungry one, thought that this was a stupid idea, and had been spending most of his time expressing this rather strong opinion.

And so, to pass the time and to drown out Blackstar's complaining, they all found themselves telling stories of battles gone array. Currently, Soul was busting a gut while telling them all of a time when he and Maka had suddenly come face to face with a Kishin while lounging poolside, and were forced to do battle in their swimwear. According to him, in the middle of giving the final blow, Maka's top came untied and flew off. "The only reason she was able to defeat the Kishin was because it was so surprised it completely froze! And Maka didn't even notice anything was missing!" He howled. And then wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, added, "But it's not like she had anything there worth looking at anyway."

Maka looked torn between extreme anger, and extreme embarrassment, but she managed to express both at the same time by hitting Soul extremely hard over the head with Madge's book.

"Ow! Uncool, Maka! I was just telling them how it happened!"

"Yes. But your extra commentary wasn't necessary!" She fumed.

Blackstar seemed to have found this particular anecdote extremely interesting, as he was still howling with laughter. Maka turned toward him with a look that screamed a homicidal rage, and so he made a wise decision for once and shut up.

The doorbell rang, and not wanting to bother anyone, Madge picked her book from the dent in Souls head and answered it herself. When she reached the door, she was met with the sight of a shivering Chrona. "Hello."

Chrona looked disappointed. "This must be the wrong place again. I'm sorry, I'll go away now." He said miserably. As Chrona turned to leave Maka realized that someone was at the door and sprung up, crying, "No, Chrona, wait!"

Chrona spun back around in surprise. "Huh? Maka? Then who's this?" he looked frightfully at the young girl and she took this as an opening to start talking.

"Who are you? Your hair isn't cut properly; it's all uneven and disorganized. Did you know that organization is a key factor to maintaining balance? We need balance to keep the world in order; therefore, you are a contributing factor in all that's ruining the world. Don't you think that…"

Chrona shrunk back and put his hands over his head as if in defense as Madge continued to prattle on. "I don't know how to deal with this little kid yelling at me!"

Tsubaki, who seemed to get along with Madge, swooped in and smiled weakly. "Maybe you should come over here with me."

Madge grunted as she was led away. "But I don't want to talk to Blackstar anymore, he's annoying, and he talks so loud that I can't even ignore him…"

Maka pulled Chrona to the couch as he explained his tardiness. "I'm sorry I'm late. I got lost."

"Yeah, that's because you're a moron." Ragnarok spat, and grabbed Chrona's head violently, digging his knuckles into the sides. "You lost the directions and then you were so stupid that you didn't wear anything warm so I had to listen to your annoying voice complaining the whole time!"

"Stop it!" Chrona cried, tears springing to his eyes.

Rebecca, who had left the room upon Chrona's arrival, now returned with a thick blanket, and draped it over his frail shoulders. "Don't worry about being late Chrona, because now that you're here, we can all eat." She smiled.

"You- you all waited for me?" He sniffed, looking at them with big teary eyes.

"Of course." Maka said gently while smiling at him.

Soul crossed his arms. "Well now that we have that settled, can we eat already? I'm starving."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Come on and help me get it Reba."

Reba, who had made herself quite comfortable on the floor, gave her cousin a long-suffering look while rubbing her legs pitifully. "But my legs are sore from walking home with all of the groceries today."

"Get off your ass and help me, you lazy bum, or you're not getting any food."

This demand seemed to inspire her to stand, for she quickly clambered up and hurried to the kitchen. Rebecca smirked and followed her, calling, "I put it in the oven so it would keep warm. Don't burn yourself."

"You're the one who spilled hot water all over her hands!"

Rebecca twitched. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you brought that up." She turned back to her guests, "You can all make yourself comfortable by the table, and it'll be ready in a sec."

Chrona abandoned the blanket on the couch and glanced at Madge as he made his way to the table. She was talking animatedly with Kid, for it appeared they had much to discuss about the merits of symmetry, and that they got along quite well when she wasn't brutally ripping his confidence to pieces. "Um, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki looked over, "Oh, what it is Chrona?'

Chrona bit his lip fretfully. "Who is that?"

"Her?" Chrona nodded. "That's Madge, she's Reba's little sister."

"Oh…" His eyes widened, and then moved to the floor. "I don't know how to deal with little girls. I've never really met one before."

Ragnarok cackled. "Don't be stupid, Chrona! You eat them!"

Chrona looked alarmed. "What? No you don't!" He glanced away and trailed off. "I don't think…"

"No!" Tsubaki cried in distress, trying to deter whatever line of thought was going on in Chrona's head. "You defiantly don't eat them!"

Blackstar tugged on her sleeve. "Sit down Tsubaki, it's time to eat!"

It was then Reba and Rebecca emerged from the kitchen- carrying plates piled high with steaming hot food.

"Alright everyone, dig in!"

††††

Somewhere in the middle of dinner, the doorbell rang again.

"Did we invite someone else?" Reba asked quizzically.

Rebecca shook her head. "I don't think so… Could you get it?"

Reba nodded and rose from her chair. "Yeah, I'll be right back."

Outside the door stood a tall slender man with a peculiar air about him. He had corn-silk blond hair that was cut bluntly past his collarbone, and he was rather attractive, but there were stitches extending from the sides of his mouth, as if he had smiled so wide that his cheeks had split open and had to be sown back together. Something else struck odd about him as well; If his eyes were any other color he would have appeared kind and open, yet they were cold and black, like a stone.

His clothing was quite strange as well. It was as if someone had taken a burlap sack and turned it into a sweater, and his corduroy jeans were a brown only a shade darker.

Reba's eyes widened. "H-hello." She stuttered.

His mouth twitched into a smile. "Hello, I'm the landlords son. My mother wanted me to talk to you…"

Reba shifted uncomfortably. "Oh- I- Uh- One second…" She left the door open but quickly backed into the room and hovered by her chair, as if she wanted nothing more than to sit down and never talk to the frightful man again. "He say's he's the managers son, he's really…" The word 'scary' died on her lips as she realized that he could probably hear every word she was saying. She gulped. "Could you…?"

Rebecca glanced to the young man hovering in their doorway and then chuckled. "I get it, I'll only be a minute guys."

Reba nodded in relief and sat down in her chair again with a thump.

A few muffled words were traded at the door before Rebecca leaned back into view and called. "He wants to show me something about the wood under our balcony. It's rotting or something. I have to go down to the street, but I'll be right back!"

"Okay!" Reba yelled back, and as the door closed, Blackstar let out a content sight and patted his stomach.

"I'm so full."

Maka made a face. "Well yeah. You ate thirds of everything."

"That's because this food is good! Unlike the food _you_ make Maka."

"What was that?" She bristled, her eye twitching angrily.

As Maka began to sling insults at Blackstar with the fury of a lion maiming its prey, Liz turned to Reba. "So who did all the cooking anyway?"

Reba considered this. "I guess we both did. We did stuff in shifts so that we didn't get tired of standing and give up."

From her spot in front of the TV, Madge added, "I'm surprised Rebecca even let you in the kitchen, big sister. I thought you would mess everything up."

"Hey! That's not nice, I really helped a lot!" Reba crossed her arms. "You and Rebecca are too much alike. You shouldn't follow her example all the time!"

"She's a better role-model than you, scared-y cat."

"Madge quit it!"

"It's not my fault you're afraid of everything."

"Not everything! Just monsters and ghosts and…" She suddenly lurched forward- shuddering as she put a hand to her chest.

Maka and Blackstar's chattering quieted abruptly and Maka looked at the weapon with alarm. "Reba, is everything okay?"

She glanced up, her eyes glittering with distress, "I think that something's wro-" But before she could voice her concern there was a loud crashing sound, and the building groaned as if the very foundation was being shaken. There was a high-pitched scream.

Death the Kid snapped to attention. "Something's going on outside!"

To the surprise of everyone, Reba shot from her chair, and was the first one out the door. She launched herself over the railing of the second story and landed nimbly on her feet.

"What the hell?" Soul muttered in bewilderment, he and Maka landing close behind her.

The scene that everyone was currently subjected too was a strange one indeed. There was a man- but he wasn't quite a man. There were eight flesh colored spider-like legs protruding from his back, four on each side, which suspended him off the ground at a slope- his feet nearly brushing the ground. Long, black, stringy hair obscured his face, yet his even darker eyes peered out from underneath.

It looked like he had lunged at Rebecca but she had thrown herself out of the way, for the two legs that protruded from his shoulders were imbedded in the stone wall of the apartment, and Rebecca was laying among the rubble of the cobblestone street.

Upon hearing Soul's voice his head turned slowly- everyone cringed. He had two large tears in his cheeks extending from where his mouth should have ended, and so his face was dripping with blood.

Somehow, Reba, who normally would have been petrified, was the only one who managed to focus on the problem at hand. She dashed past the gruesome specter and helped her meister pull herself off the floor.

Rebecca brushed the broken stone off her knees and groaned.

"We heard you scream." Reba said fretfully.

Rebecca shook her head, and wiped the side of her mouth, glancing at the creature. "Wasn't me. 'S that ugly thing."

Reba nodded and then leaned in so only her cousin would hear. "I felt you 'jump' with out me. That's no good, it's more dangerous, and you're always telling me not too."

"Sorry." Rebecca grinned weakly. "He tried to skewer me. I would have been shiskabobed. Now come on, time to transform."

Reba gripped her hand, and in a flash of white light, had assumed her more lethal form.

It was the now familiar hum of their souls that snapped everyone to attention.

"Soul!"

"Liz, Patty!"

"Tsubaki!"

"_Right!"_

With everyone now in weapon form, Soul growled, "Okay, that thing is seriously uncool, what _is _it?"

"And what happened to the managers son?" Tsubaki added.

"That _is_ the managers son."

"What?" Maka frowned and looked closer, only to realize that the resemblance was uncanny. Beside the fact that his stitches were ripped and his hair was now black, he was identical to the man who had arrived at the Edwards' doorstep.

"However, something tells me that he wasn't being entirely truthful about his identity. Rebecca added.

"But wasn't his hair blond before?" Liz asked, vocalizing everyone's confusion.

Patty giggled. "Did he go and dye his hair or something?"

Kid hummed in agreement, "You're right, his hair is as black as night now."

"Wrong!" The man screeched suddenly, causing everyone to jump in surprise. His legs began to skitter back and forth, making him swing like a dead man from a noose. He clutched his face and began to talk in a hysterical whine. "My hair is as black as blood." He mumbled, and then peered out from between his fingers.

"As black as the blood of ravens."

* * *

**I love him. He is awesome. You do not know his name yet but he is awesome and I love him. Did I mention that I love him and that he is awesome? **

**Well okay.**

**He's _fun_. For me at least. Ohohohoho. I'm looking forward to posting the next chapter, in which you lovely readers are informed of his name. Indeed.**

**I meant to post this, like, a week ago. *facepalm* I'm a work in progress.**

**Please give me the pleasure of reading your reviews!**

**-Sasha**


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